The Leadership Alliance (LA) is a consortium of 31 universities and colleges which have as their collective mission to encourage underrepresented minorities to seek research and academic careers. The primary societal problem the Alliance addresses is the relatively low participation of these populations in academia as educators, leaders and decision makers. One means the LA employs is to expand opportunities and increase the participation of these students in research and technical experiences leading to graduate and professional training. The flagship program of the LA, the Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP) provides 8-10 week summer research intemships for students at 19 different research institutions;nearly 1400 SR-EIP students have participated in this program since its inception. This proposal seeks support for the Leadership Alliance National Symposium (LANS) series, an annual symposium for 300 undergraduates, 50-75 graduate students and 50 faculty/administrators each year for five years (2004-2008). The specific aims of LANS are to: 1) provide a quality scientific and technical presentation experience for underrepresented undergraduates;2) assemble a cohort of emerging Ph.D.s and provide them with tools and skills in scientific communication, management and post Ph.D. decisionmaking;3) extend and enhance networking, career-building and mentoring opportunities within and among various LANS cohorts;and 4) evaluate results to monitor achievement of program aims, develop useful products and maintain and disseminate best practices. Through this concerted effort, the LANS illuminates the educational pathway leading to the professoriate and enhances students'endeavors by providing critical resources, tools and mentoring network. LANS products will continue to be routinely disseminated to its conferees, other conference organizers, institutions and the general public through the LA website.